Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:26390 comp.misc:4358 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!super!udel!princeton!njin!rutgers!mit-eddie!killer!usl!usl-pc!jpdres10 From: jpdres10@usl-pc.usl.edu (Green Eric Lee) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.misc Subject: Re: Software Development And Piracy (Spurred By FTL replies) Summary: If you had bothered to read the entire posting.... Message-ID: <141@usl-pc.usl.edu> Date: 10 Dec 88 20:44:07 GMT References: <555@icus.islp.ny.us> <2363@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <1334@leah.Albany.Edu> <2397@ddsw1.MCS.COM> Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette Lines: 177 Distribution: Keywords: Expires: Sender: Reply-To: Followup-To: In message <2397@ddsw1.MCS.COM>, karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) says: >Of course if you only produce products that are "one shot"; you provide ZERO >in the way of support or assistance, and you basically never want to see the >customer (or his opinions) once you have his/her money, then this doesn't >work. Actually, this is the majority of software publishers out there in the PC world. Most of them release one version of the program, then drop it from their lineup when sales start tailing off (because it is functionally obsolete, or whatever). I hear that something of the sort is why we haven't seen a version of Dpaint for the Amiga with the bugs fixed -- Electronic Arse refuses to use the fixed version that Dan Silva (the author) sent them. >In that case, though, I argue that you aren't interested in your >customer at all -- only his/her pocketbook! You said it, not me! >I also listed several ideas to stop (or lessen) piracy. >1) Form (and USE) associations such as the SPA (the SPA currently doesn't > do much of a job -- unfortunately) to help combat organized piracy. This > means that you need to hit the companies and individuals that do this as > a matter of course -- with suits and confiscation raids, if necessary. > In fact, if they really wanted to "crack down" they might even offer > _REWARDS_ for fruitful tips....... All of this must be done within the > law of course; I don't condone (and will not support) "police actions" > by individuals or the state that violate Constitutional protections. This would especially be helpful for hitting businesses and school systems. If the tipster can recieve his/her reward anonymously, you'll see disgruntled employees everywhere turning in their cheap employers. >2) Burn purchasers names into programs if you need "protection". This also > helps out the prosecution (and detection) under #1 above. The downside > of this is that you need a system (or specialized "burning drive") at > each point of sale. This sounds nasty -- until you consider that most > computer stores ALREADY have the prerequisite machine onsite! All it Note that computer stores are one of the biggest sources of pirated software! I'm not talking about Entre' or Computerland, here, of course... I'm talking about Joe's Hack Shop, which sells a little of this, a little of that, neighborhood gathering spot for the hacker clique, walk in the back and he has a filing cabinet full of copied disks. Usually the small-time shops can't afford to stock lots of games, which move slowly after the initial spurt upon release, and so the owners are less-than-dilligent about policing copying on the premesis. Another source of pirated games is the proprieter's children. At one local very respectable computer store, the proprietor apparently doesn't feel like paying for software for his children when he has a whole store full of slowly-moving stock... unfortunately for his sales, his kids tend to let their friends copy them! (but they live 30 miles away in another town, so that tends to alleviate the effects). So how do you stop this? Well, if you walk into the store, it's not obvious, and you can't raid all the computer stores. The only people who know about such things are the people who copy software, and they won't turn in their "source", so that won't work. Beats me. > takes is some fancy software. The other alternative is > "Self-serializing" software that requires a PHONE CALL to the > manufacturer for a code to "activate" the package. Both of these Might eliminate some casual copying, but the hackers will have it "broken" in two minutes or less. Or else they'll distribute the unserialized disk with the code they got from the telephone (probably with a fake name/address/phone #). > "heh Joe, check this package out" type copying, because if Joe calls for > technical support, Jack (who gave Joe the disk) is busted! Nope. See above. Jack probably gave his name as "Jane Doe" when he called. It happens. Besides, few people copy the kind of programs that need technical support (with the exception of Lotus 1-2-3, Wordstar, and Wordperfect, for which aftermarket manuals exist). Most of the kids are interested only in games -- which don't need support. I know that I personally would have little use for a wordprocessor without documentation. >3) Include a section in each manual (AT THE FRONT) discussing copyright law > and the user's liabilities and responsibilities. I wrote a BBS program some years back. After a new user enters his name, ID, etc., it drops him into the editor to enter some comments. Everytime the program enters the editor, it prints out "Enter /H for Help". About 2 callers out of every three instead hit the RETURN key a couple of dozen times on an empty line -- i.e., like you do with Fido and other such simplistic BBS's. My conclusion is that most people do NOT read the documentation, even if it's a single line! You really expect them to read this whole dull boring conversation about copyrights? >4) DO SOMETHING for the customer -- thereby forcing him to deal with you if > he wants to keep things up to date -- AND keep him happy. YES. Fix bugs. Release updates regularly. Write a good, thorough manual, e.g. like AREXX on the Amiga. I know personally one person who thought about pirating AREXX, but desisted because it'd be a pain to copy the manual. A good manual for a complex product is going to be fairly lengthy if it is going to be complete and understandable. For example, the step-by-step setup section for how to set up the BBS was nearly 40 pages, and included a number of helpful charts and illustrations. That's the setup section -- not the reference section (the whole manual was somewhere around 120 pages, including an INDEX -- an INDEX, mind you, that most useful of things that EVERYBODY seems to omit. I know it's a pain to build an index, but there is NO EXCUSE for a professional-quality product to not have an indexed manual). >The last may > be the most important point. A _loyal_ customer simply won't let anyone > copy the disks.... once again, if you're into selling "one-shots" and > can't/won't help people out or listen to them this isn't going to get you > anywhere. You got it. Fiercly loyal customers not only won't let anyone copy the disk, they'll throw tantrums and threaten bodily harm if they catch someone else pirating the program. >I also contend that if you DO somehow stop the stealing by under-age people >(which are probably the majority in the game area) you'll not make much more >money as an author or publisher -- most of those kids simply couldn't afford >to purchase the games no matter how good they are; you wouldn't see a plugged >nickel from them REGARDLESS of the circumstances. The kids wouldn't have >the software, true, but you wouldn't be compensated _either_. I'd estimate >that you'd only see a 10% increase in sales of these products -- this >means An interesting phenomenon: during the height of the Commodore 64's popularity, there were kids dumping their PC Jr.'s and Apple IIs by the wayside to buy 64's. The reason? All their friends at school had 64s, so they could all go in together to buy a program, and copy it among themselves (these were just ordinary schoolkids, not the stereotypical bepimpled geek with 900 disks... they weren't interested in spending all their time "collecting", they just wanted to play a game occasionally to relax after school or whatever). Anyhow, because of that phenomenon, you might actually see a DECLINE in sales if you manage to totally stop the kids from copying (which, BTW, is an impossibility, since it would take Gestapo tactics to eliminate such small-time graft). Kids don't generally hold on to their money for long. If they have $10, they tend to start looking for something to spend it on. If four kids have $10, they might go in together on a $40 game. But, seperately, it's more likely to go for gas, burgers, movie tickets, or some other teen pasttime. >Anyone want to start an Association of Software Publishers & Authors, with a >small annual dues that initially funds both a "rewards" system and a legal >fund to bring the axe down on these people? NOT another SPA -- they're not >enough. What we need to be effective is an organization with wide-based >power, not something controlled only by huge giants like Lotus. What we need is an organization to which I can give my enrollment fee, and then when I discover someone copying my program, give them a call and have them handle prosecuting the bastards. Given that someone copying my program is probably also copying other member's software, it seems quite ridiculous for me to have to pay for going after the SOB all by myself... not to mention that if I, personally, go after him, he might manage to "lose" the one particular disk with the evidence I need... but Joe Collector can't "lose" 900 disks very easily in a short amount of time. >Or is it better if we just ignore the problem, or continue on our present >course? Do we REALLY want to change the "status quo"; if so, let's do it! I think that going after institutional pirates and certain high-profile types (the "crackers" and "collectors") would be useful, but eliminating pirating altogether is a pipe dream that will never happen. People tend to notice that it doesn't cost anything to copy a disk... and people will always give in to the temptation. The only way to remove that temptation is to make copying a program harder than just copying a disk, i.e. with documentation and support. -- Eric Lee Green P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509 {ames,mit-eddie,osu-cis,...}!killer!elg, killer!usl!elg, etc.